Phantoms Inch Closer to Division Crown
March 21, 2009 - North American Hockey League (NAHL)
Mahoning Valley Phantoms News Release
CHESTERFIELD, MO - The Mahoning Valley Phantoms third period rally came up short as the St. Louis Bandits pulled away late to down the Phantoms 5-2 on Saturday at the Hardees IcePlex.
Despite the loss, the Phantoms' magic number of points gained combined points lost by Team USA dropped to five to clinch the North Division following the Nationals' 5-2 falter at Traverse City.
After an early Bandits goal by Jordan Bougonje staked St. Louis to a 1-0 lead, the Phantoms roared back to tie the game with 10:52 left in the first period when George Saad grabbed a deflected shot by David Chaney and wired a one-time shot past Bandits netminder Erick Cinotti.
The two teams would stay deadlocked the rest of the way as the first period ended 1-1.
Stefan Salituro would give the Phantoms their first and only lead of the game when he took a centering feed on the power play from Saad and popped a backhand past Cinotti for a 2-1 edge 6:04 into the second.
Three minutes later, however, the St. Louis special teams came alive as Tyler Klein and Chris Ciotti got long-range power play goals within a minute and a half of eachother to propel the Bandits back to a one-goal lead with 9:33 remaining in the middle frame.
Over the next 25 minutes of hockey, the Phantoms would press for the equalizer but were repeatedly turned away with acrobatic saves by Cinotti.
Then, with 4:32 left in regulation, Klein got his second goal of the game when he redirected a Dan Weiss shot through the legs of Mahoning Valley keeper Garrett Bartus to extend the Bandit lead to 4-2.
The Phantoms pulled Bartus in favor of an extra attacker with four minutes to go, but their comeback hopes were dashed when Clinton Bourbonais lifted a slow backhand shot from 150 feet away into the open net for the final 5-2 margin.
St. Louis' power play proved to be the difference in the game, going 2-for-7 with the man advantage Saturday. The Phantoms finished 1-for-6.
Bartus made 36 saves but fell to 12-8-3 on the '08-'09 campaign; Cinotti improved to 12-4-2 on the year as he stymied 28 Phantom attempts.
The Phantoms (35-16-5, 75 pts) saw their lead for first place in the division shaved to four points by the Nationals (33-16-5, 71 pts), who got a 3-2 home win over Alpena from their Under-18 team while the U-17 side fell to the North Stars.
The Phantoms will close the regular season with a two-game home series against the Alpena IceDiggers starting Thursday at the Chevrolet Centre at 7:15 PM. Friday's season finale will be at the Ice Zone in Boardman at 7:15 PM.
Both contests will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 1240, WBBW-AM, and worldwide at MVPPhantoms.com via B2 Networks. The pregame show will begin both nights at 7:00 PM.
Phantoms individual game tickets are on sale at the Phantom Box Office at the Ice Zone. Call (330) 965-7500 for more information.
North American Hockey League Stories from March 21, 2009
- Phantoms Inch Closer to Division Crown - Mahoning Valley Phantoms
- U.S. Nat'l U17 Team Falls to Traverse City, 5-2 - U.S. National Team
- U.S. Nat'l U18 Team Tops Alpena, 3-2 - U.S. National Team
- Jean jacks Nats: Stars outlast USA-17s - Traverse City North Stars
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